Our good friends Titus and Stephanie, working with street kids in Guayaquil, are living through some CRAZY and FRUSTRATING experiences in Ecuador. (And to think I can get upset when someone steals my parking spot).

I'd encourage you to check out their blog here (http://tsfolden.blogspot.com/) I'd also encourage you to send them money here... then pray (Matt 6:21).

Can you remember the last time you were REALLY frustrated? I mean, really, REALLY frustrated?? Join us in the following (condensed) dialogue:
T: (opens car door)
<<>>
S: What was that?
T: I don't know
S: (walks to side of car) Someone hit us! Ugh, that's the second time this month! Now we have a dented door, a cracked bumper and a cracked winshield. (keep in mind we've had the car a total of 6mo)
T: What?? The alarm didn't go off! I can't open the door.
S: Just pull off the plastic. Ask the guard what happened.
T: (moments later) He said he didn't see anything.
S: What? He's right there!
(an hour later, leaving a foundation)
T: It really smelled in there today
S: I know, it's because the kids were eating rotten bananas.
T: Really?
S: Yes. AND. . . Do you know there were three adults sitting in the office while the kids were locked inside there beating on each other? I feel helpless.
(another hour later)
T: How much was our electric bill last month?
S: $30, why?
T: Because this month's bill is $135.
S: $135??? That's impossible.
T: I think someone is stealing our electricity.
S: Great.
T: And our water bill doubled.
S: What?
T: I think the workers are using our water to make their cement while we're gone.
<<>>

We shared these stories with some friends of ours who have been missionaries here for 17 years. They laughed. Amazingly enough, we laughed too. This is our life. The frustration will never go away. Sometimes it's better, sometimes its worse, but it's always there. The big question is what we will do with the frustration. Will it make us bitter? Angry? Depressed? Or will we chalk it up to living in a country that's not our own, in a language that's not our own, in a corrupt system, where survival is the key to life, and laugh at our "misfourtunes" knowing we're where we're God has called us?

We'll begin exploring community centers in Guayaquil in the next two months. We'll be spending time talking with the directors, community members and children; as well as visiting possible sites for a new center. We'll also be talking with a couple of potential ministry parnters. Please be in prayer for the Lord's continual guidance and wisdom in these matters!

By His Grace,
Titus, Steph & Sofia

This Sunday's message: "Jesus the Revolutionary" -Did Jesus really make a difference? We will look at everything from human rights, to women's rights, to the abolition of slavery, to child-labor laws, to the most significant; our justification before a just God.

You may remember this theme from "le Lounge". I decided to re-use part of my notes from that discussion, expand on them, and present them Sunday morning.

It will be great to partake of the Lord's Supper together for the first time since June.

Please pray that many, many first-time visitors would come and see how Christ has radically impacted history.

This Sunday will be a blast. Jean-Louis will share his testimony and be baptized.  Many visitors have already confirmed their attendance. Noël, a hard-hitting, construction-worker-type evangelist will preach. Zac will lead us in singing.

Here is the flyer for this Sunday's sermon. Again, we passed out about 3,000 of them in several different neighborhoods.

Please pray!!!

TRANSLATION:  "A meeting... Is it possible to meet Jesus in 2008?"

Last Sunday we had over 100 people in attendance, with several first-time visitors, and even a couple of regular families missing. We sang. Sam recounted how Christ radically transformed his life a couple of years ago. We looked at "The Secret Message of Jesus" (which is NOT a secret by the way). Then we ate and sang until 2pm.

Here's the catch: we had about 15 visitors from our mother church (that's how we cheated). The majority were part of a percussion worship-group that led us as we chowed down on hot dogs and ketchup chips (yes, you read right. They are easily the most popular flavor of chip in Quebec). Here are a few photos from last Sunday:

ABOVE PHOTO: 10am... as people wander in

ABOVE PHOTO: Rob (left) talking with Matthieu (right) our guest-speaker for the morning

ABOVE PHOTO: L-R: Mahi-Li, Constance Karch, Caleb Karch

ABOVE PHOTO: Bernard and Fred using their spiritual gifts of grilling

ABOVE PHOTO: Singing after the kids have left

ABOVE PHOTO: Rob relegated to announcements for a Sunday

Click here to see many more photos 

This summer, each Sunday has a theme and a custum invitation for that theme. This week we distributed invitations to 1,500 houses in two communities (each house received the same invitation twice=3000 invitations). One community has been around for 50+ years, the other is brand-spanking new. We will distribute invitations most weeks for the entire summer (along with many community service projects, door-to-door invitations, and a dozen other events we can't fit into one phrase). This week's theme:

TRANSLATION: "Jesus: the secret revealed. God's message to humanity" 

You can check out the church's website here (www.ecclesia-sj.com)

TRANSLATION OF BACK INVITATION ABOVE:

 You are invited!

• "A Meeting -Is it possible to meet Jesus in 2008?" (Doesn't translate well into English)
  
• "Jesus the Revolutionary -Did Jesus really make a difference?" 
• "The Scandale that is Grace -Radical love for the unworthy"
• "God in Hell -If God is good, why does suffering exist?"
  
• "Why did Jesus have to Die? -The tragedy of an innocent man?"

Where are we? 712 St-Georges St. (Ici par les arts=the name of the building we rent)

(Sideways) Who are we? We are a baptist church, established in St-Jérôme in 2007. Our desire is to find our satisfaction in Jesus Christ as we experience His love together... both in small and large gatherings. Whether you are curious, skeptical, athiest, or believer, you are welcome to discover Jesus Christ with us.

I'll post the new graphic each week throughout the summer.

Please pray for us as we hand out thousands of invitations in St Jérôme throughout the summer!

As I rush to finish last-minute preparations for a looming Bible study, I think that my torrid pace is a result of my immaturity. That someday I'll grow out of it. One day I'll be cool, calm, and collected (and prepared) like the preachers of old (though never remotely as intelligent). I think of Jonathan Edwards, Timothy Dwight, Lyman Beecher. Wait... Lyman Beecher? One of the great pastors of the Second Great Awakening? Cool, calm, collected, and prepared? Look at the image. He sure looks it, doesn't he? Now for the truth. Here is a description of a typical Sunday morning by his famed daughter Harriet Beecher (Stowe):

"The bells would begin to ring, and still he would write [his sermon notes]. They would toll loud and long, and his wife would say, "He will certainly be late," and then would be running up and down stairs of messengers to see that he was finished, till, just as the last stroke of the bell was dying away, he would emerge from the study with his coat very much awry, come down the stairs like a hurricane, stand impatiently protesting while female hands that ever lay in wait, adjusted his cravat and settled his coat collar, calling loudly the while for a pin to fasten together the stubbed bits of paper [his notes], which being duly dropped into the crown of his hat, and hooking wife or daughter like a satchel on his arm, away he would start on such a race through the streets as left neither brain nor breath till the church was gained" (From Sea to Shining Sea, p. 115).

I praise God that He continually uses the rest of us... those whose best thinking sometimes comes at the least opportune times.

Marcelle is about 60 years old, white hair, 5' 4", medium build, and piercing blue eyes. His gait could be described as more of a shuffle than a walk.

A couple of months ago he showed up in the parking lot as we were setting up for a Sunday morning service. As he hit people up for change, the overpowering odor of alcohol betrayed his intentions.

Réal was the first to spot him. I love Réal. If you want to learn about Christ's unconditional love, watch how Réal loves. When he saw Marcelle, he did the only logical thing. He wrapped his arms around Marcelle and brought him inside.

Marcelle hung around until the service started, then took off... but not before Réal secured a promise that he would stay for the entire service the next week.

True to his word, Marcelle was there for the entire service the following week... hitting people up for change during our coffee break... the smell of alcohol following him wherever he went.

So what do you do? We follow Réal's lead. His advice was not to worry for the time being. More than correction, Marcelle needed to see Jesus.

A week later... Marcelle shows up at the end asking for money. The same aroma. I pulled him aside and told him I wouldn't give him any money, but I'd buy him food if he needed it. Did he need it? "My fridge is empty and I have no money". I repeated my offer a couple of times. He waited patiently off to the side as I closed up the building.

"Do you have any family? Children?"

"No. I'm a widower twice over. It's not a funny to be a widower. I've been alone for seven years now. It's not funny to be alone." 

We bought $25 of groceries at at nearby convenience store, then carried it up to his studio apartment down the street
 

I was surprised. Everything was completely organized. The bed was made. Finished crossword puzzles piled neatly at one corner of his 3' x 3' dining room table.. A couple dozen books lining the other side. He loves to read.

I had to go.

Marcelle showed up around noon last Sunday. He just wanted to thank me for the groceries.

"Do you still like to read?"

"Yes. All the time"

"Are you able to read this?" I asked as I handed him a Bible.

"With my glasses, sure."

He thanked me, eager to begin with the gospel of John.

Please pray for Marcelle. 

 Found this over at the HarborChurch blog by Matt Dirk (the fact that I'm linking to a soundbite-ish quote probably just goes to prove his point):

Nicholas Carr writes this in The Atlantic:

I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.

I think I know what’s going on... click here to continue reading

In 1998 I (Rob) visited a cave in the Alps of southern France where a group of "les huguenots" hid for about 50 years during severe persecutions by the Catholic church. John Piper, on his blog, shares another story of resisting Huguenots:

June 9, 2008  |  By: John Piper 

"Authenticy". Everyone talks about it (in US evangelical circles anyway). They try new "ancient" experiences, like candles, incense, pillows, and rusty nails, in the name of being "authentic". (Ironically, I actually enjoy many of these sensory experiences.) What makes me uneasy is how many search for an "authentic" worship experience through the transformation of their surroundings... the exterior.

First century Judaism was already 2000 years old during Jesus' lifetime. Ancient sights, smells, sounds, textures, and wisdom, thoroughly saturated every millimeter of it's existence. And somehow, the ones who were most saturated with this "ancientness", were, according to Jesus, the ones farthest away from "authentic" worship.

Sitting in the basement of a 1960's First Baptist Church with a styro-foam cup full of bad coffee, depending on the hearts of who is there, can be the most "authentic" worship imaginable.

The other evening we were sitting in a living room. No coffee. No music. An energetic two-year old ran around us. It was a "regular" small group.

As we discussed the subject of spiritual warfare, I noticed something. I noticed how people began their sentences.

"When my son died..."

"When my husband died..."

"When my wife left me..."

"When my son died..." 

Despite our ordinary surroundings, this "regular" group was extraordinary. This group was baring its heart. They had been there and back again... and weren't afraid to talk about it in the most profound ways imaginable.

Sometimes between tears, one speaks of the difficult path he has walked over the past 2-3 years.  Another looks him in the eye, praising God for His goodness through incredible pain. A third responds with a renewed passion for God's glory in our community.

These have resisted the temptation to curse God (or others), and are living out Psalms 30:11. Their hope is firmly grounded in the work and person of Jesus Christ... the one who died, understanding their suffering; and rose again, destroying the effects the very death that has caused them so much pain.  I only pray that when hardship comes, God will allow me to follow in their profound, "authentic", footsteps.

These people are my heros.

Francis Chan is a pastor in Southern California who recently wrote the book CrazyLove. (the videos at www.crazylovebook.com are amazing as well).

Up to now, I've loved everything I've seen and read by him. Check out this breathtaking video:

A Provincial Movement: 

The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists in Quebec (which we partner with here in Quebec) are in the middle of their vision: 30 new churches, 100 new workers, in 10 years.

This vision began in 2002 and we are now looking at its successful completion in 2012. We are beginning on average 3 healthy new churches every year all over Quebec. This in and of itself is motivating. God is moving throughout our Association.

A Regional Movement:

On a smaller scale, L'église Baptise Évangélique de Terrebonne Mascouche (www.ebetm.org), of which Louis Bourque is the pastor, has developped what they call "La Vision Conquérante" (Literally "A Conquering Vision"... but a phrase like "Movement Quebec" may better capture the spirit of the phrase). The elders unanimously accepted and are behind this vision of planting 10 new daughter churches before 2025. All of these are above and beyond the three daughter churches EBETM has already birthed throughout their history. The church in St-Jérôme (of which I am the lead planter) is the first of the 10. We began weekly Sunday services in January 2008.

To move the vision forward, the elders of EBETM put together a church planting action team (of which I am a part). This team has created and now practices the following strategy: 

4-Part Strategy:

All four parts of our strategy are intended to liberate gifted church planting teams (the vast majority are native Quebeckers who were discipled, trained, and mentored in our local churches) as they fulfill the great commission and great commandment in their communities. Of course, we have a much more detailed plan, but this overview will gives a general idea.

• L'ÉVALUATION (Assessment): Finding gifted church planting teams. Our desire is to invest enormous amounts of time, finances, and people in each team, so intentional evaluation in people with the needed gifting is essential:
  
• Informal evaluation: An extended conversation as we get to know the person, their desires and availability.
  
• Formal evaluation: Meeting face to face, resumé, references, theology, church planter evaluations, psychological evaluations, financial status, their favorite hockey team (a must as well... no Bruins fans allowed), etc.
  
• LA FORMATION (Training): In conjunction with SEMBEQ, we are creating a 1-2 year full-time internship process where the couples would come and be a part of EBETM for 1-2 years. During this time they would go through a church planter boot camp, be coached by Louis (the teaching pastor) and others, work and learn from Noël Morrissette (the pastor of evangelism at Louis' church) on how to form and train disciple-makers in a local church situation, learn how to form and train leaders in the church, and form and train their core group that will eventually be sent out.
  
• LA MISE À PART (Send-off):  The church planting leadership team, along with their core group, will be sent out with all the financial, emotional, spiritual, and personal resources necessary.
  
• L'ENCADREMENT (Support & Accountability): The daughter church will continue to exist under the wing of the mother church for a time. The leaders will be accountable to the mother church. Why? To keep them liberated to put all their energy into church planting instead of becoming bogged down in the myriad of administrative tasks within a new church. The mother church will also help organize their finances, help with preaching duties, and the many other issues that always come up in church planting.
  

We have gone from the question of "what are we able to do?" to the question of "what does it take?". Yes, all of the above costs much and is a huge investment by the mother church. But part of our desire is that right from the start, the daughter churches would contribute financially, emotionally, and spiritually, as they are able, back into the network which is "La Vision Conquérante". The desire is that in time we will have a self-propogating movement. Our church in St Jérôme is already doing this.
 

I found this over at the desiringgod blog today, which is always a source of encouraging and convicting, God-glorifying discussion. But I'll tell you what... this is simultaneously inspiring and exceedingly difficult: 

May 29, 2008  |  By: John Piper

Category: Commentary

Over the last two weeks in our church in St Jérôme, one family gave birth to twins while another lost triplets. Other families are pregnant as I write this post. Problems in pregnancy are on the minds of many in our congregation.

Our daughter, Constance (who is now one-and-a-half: (photo at right taken at 6 months)), was diagnosed with a brain abnormality in utero that can be conducive to downs syndrome.  The Quebecker doctor presented the option of abortion to us... which we categorically refused. Imagine if we would have taken the advice and aborted her? Absolutely convinced that every life is a gift from God and precious, we never would have done that, but millions of people without this conviction are often presented with the same scenario we were.

The result in our case? Constance was born perfectly healthy. Although we would have welcomed Constance as an equally sublime gift from God even if she had not been born completely healthy.

Here is the quote that jumped out at me as I read nearly tragic article which follows:

"I feel incredibly guilty thinking that I could have killed him – and then I find myself wondering how many other babies are killed who would have turned out to be completely healthy."

We as a western society are choosing our children like we choose our cars. We want to choose the time, place, and model. If don't like what we see on the test drive, then back it goes... we want another one... one that will suit my tastes better. One that will be more convenient for me. This is a tragedy.

But the tragedy is doubled when doctors use dubious information at best, to try to influence mothers, who would never consider an abortion on their own, to terminate their own offspring.  

Here is the article:

In Perfect health, the baby doctors said would be born deaf and blind... and live only a few hours. 

By JO MACFARLANE - More by this author » Last updated at 08:45am on 25th February, 2008

A couple who were advised to abort their baby when doctors said he had a rare brain disorder have spoken of their joy after their "miracle son" was born in perfect health.

Little Brandon Kramer was diagnosed with rhombo -encephalo -synapsis – a condition so rare it affects fewer than one in a million people worldwide – while he was still in the womb.

Doctors warned his mother and father that Brandon would be born deaf and blind and would probably survive only for a couple of hours.

It is believed to be the first time in Britain that the condition has been diagnosed during pregnancy – and Becky Weatherall and her partner Kriss Kramer were offered a termination up to just weeks before the birth.

But the couple defied doctors' advice and their son was born healthy on October 1 last year.

Now Brandon is teething and attempting to talk, and Kriss, 24, from Pembroke Dock, South Wales, said: "The fact that he is here now, alive and kicking, truly is a miracle.

"The doctors say that he has defied all the odds but it's really more than that because he wasn't given any odds at all.

"He was written off completely and we believed he was 100 per cent certain to be handicapped."

Becky, 23, whose father Paul Weatherall is Mayor of Pembroke Dock, said: "I feel incredibly guilty thinking that I could have killed him – and then I find myself wondering how many other babies are killed who would have turned out to be completely healthy.

To read more, click here 

The story of one girl: 

[a few months ago at "Le Lounge"]

"I'm an atheist", she said during her first visit to "Le Lounge". She had a couple of friends there and liked the atmosphere. The God part? Well, she was curious at least to see what all the hubbub was all about.

[5 weeks ago at "Le Lounge"]

"Are you a christian?" someone in the group asked her.

"I'm not sure", came the less-than-convincing reply.

 [2 weeks ago]

"The difficult thing to accept about God's grace is this: I heard a story about a girl who murdered and chopped up her roommate. Also, I have a friend who was a pretty good person her entire life, then died of a disease at a young age. The difficult thing to accept about God's grace is that each of these two people have equal access to His grace."

"Another thing that blows me away about God's grace is this: I've done a lot of good things in my life, but they have absolutely nothing to do with God's grace in that God does not give me grace based on whether or not I do good things! The idea of merit is completely foreign to God's grace."